Can't Stop Now
by Bestbuds55
Summary: Beth was going through a rough time, then they lose the farm and she can't afford to be depressed anymore. Daryl helps her through it.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Yeah, that's right I'm starting another story about the walking dead. I just have so many ideas at the moment, but don't worry the other two are going to be updated on the days I said they would still. I wanted to be able to right about Daryl's and Beth relationship next, since I have a Glenn one and a Carol one already. Won't really follow the story line of the show/comic. I think this one will be updated on Tuesday's, if I can continuously find the time to write it. Starts right as the group is told to move into the house with them.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the walking dead, though it would be simply amazing if I did!**

They had found the farm because Sophia had gotten lost in the woods. If she hadn't gotten lost then Carl never would have been out in the woods like that and never would have gotten shot. The group never would have located to the farm, and then Daryl never would have gotten hurt looking for the girl, or shot. They never would have killed the Greene's walker family, or somehow managed to gain them as allies.

Daryl supposed that there were a lot of "ifs" in what happened, but he was still glad it happened none the same. Well, he probably could have gone without being shot. Still, he believed that everything had purpose and things were just part of some sort of bigger plan. Merle had told him once (more like a million times) that that sounded mighty girlish of him to say. Called him a pussy for wanting to believe deaths weren't for nothing. Though, Merle had never tried to change that way of thinking, considering the first time he had told Merle about his thoughts right after their mother had died.

Daryl found himself walking the perimeter around the farm, taking down a single walker with ease. It wasn't exactly walker free here, Daryl had killed several since they had got here, but this place was much better than being out in the middle of the woods, without any protection. They had crops and fruit trees here as well, which provided them with fresh food; which was a lot better for them then eating very little and only canned crap. He had heard Dale saying something about everything being high in salt days before he died.

As his walk came to an end and he found himself back at the house, he nodded to Rick who was sitting on the front steps of the porch. They had all moved into the house, and Daryl felt that while he didn't like being this close to this many people, it was much safer and warmer. The temperature was already starting to drop at night; he could only make the guess that it was probably September now. It had been the middle of July when all this shit went down.

It was late afternoon now, and he could see Carol and Patricia preparing dinner. The rest of the women were hanging around the open door to Beth's bedroom. He had heard that she had tried to take her own life after she had watched them "kill" her family. He hadn't really talked to the youngest Greene at all and had really only seen her once when he was getting tried for his gunshot. She hadn't said anything at the time, just brought him water and smiled sweetly at him.

She had had such a kind smile, and now people were treating her like she was glass, or worse, already broken. Beth had made one mistake and everyone appeared to not want to let it go. Daryl was ready to tell them to leave her alone, but he knew they wouldn't listen to him anyway. He had been there to, when you feel like everything you know is wrong and the world is a horrible place to be, you just wanna stop it all. He had tried multiple times over the years, but always changed his mind in time.

Then the women were squawking as he walked by, "We should be getting work done, but someone has to stay with Beth." Lori was what Daryl would call a pregnant bitch; he had had no problem with her, but now that she was knocked up she acted like her word was law. She was complaining about the right thing this time though, why does Beth need this much attention right now? If anything she needed to be alone, personally he always felt better after spending some time alone. That had been even truer when he was young, alone he could lick he bruises and take care of himself, catalog what he had done so that he would never do it again.

Daryl spoke which had all the women turning to stare at him, "I'll stay with her if you want to go and get shit done." They were looking at him with wide eyes, like they didn't believe that he would volunteer for anything, or help with anything. He felt kind of insulted, he had been the one to go and look for Sophia everyday when she was lost. Did they really think that he didn't care or something stupid like that, because it's not like he had others to lean on at the end of the world? He nervously cleared his throat when they didn't reply or stop staring at him. "Go on now, I'll watch the girl. Go do your damn chores, it's getting late and yall won't have anything done that needed to be done."

Lori nodded at him and Andrea left with behind her without acknowledging him. Maggie had glared at him slightly before walking forward with a stance that was most likely supposed to be threatening. "You watch over her, and if anything happens to her when you're in charge, I'll god damn kill you." He eyes widened a little bit, farmers daughter had more bite to her the he thought she had.

"Don't gotta worry, she'll be safe with me. Probably more then with the rest of these defenseless morons." He meant it to, at least he could take down walker no problem, and the woman would just scream for help and run. If Beth didn't move with them, she'd die and they'd just call that the walkers fault. Like they hadn't been there to protect her in the first place. The answer seemed to satisfy Maggie, she nodded her head and stalked off.

Daryl watched her walk until she was out of his line of sight, before walking into the room and taking the seat next to Beth's bed. He had closed the door behind him; walkers would have a way harder go at getting in with a closed door, just in case. He placed his bow at his side, carefully so he could grab it if needed. Beth was asleep and he found himself tilting his head down and closing his eyes as well, not much time to catch up on rest these days.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, I'm back for another chapter. Are you as excited as I am? Right now, I'm just praying that Christmas is rapidly coming up. I need a bit of a break from school right now, think it's beginning to drive me nuts. Having to work full time Friday- Sunday isn't helping with my wanting to go to class drive. I'll get through it though! Feel free to review for me; I'll love you eternally if you do.**

**Disclaimer: Not the owner of the walking dead, **

When Daryl opened his eyes again, he could hear people screaming. People near him, like in the house near him. He could here vehicles going and screeching in the yard and a loud thump came to the door before he jumped into action. He grabbed his bow up off the ground, and checked how many arrows he still had. Knowing if you had another arrow might be the difference between life and death in the middle of things. He had 7, plus the one that was already loaded.

He took one look at Beth who was just looking out the window and biting her lip. She definitely knew what was happening out there, but probably also realized that there wasn't really anything that she could do. She wasn't trained, and probably hadn't ever even held a gun. "Ya ready girl?" He asked, finally getting her attention.

Beth turned violently, as if she hadn't even realized that he was in the room with her. He guessed that she was still pretty out of it, losing her family not long ago. The week his mom died, he spent staring into space while people moved around him. He couldn't even remember the funeral, and looking back sometimes he wondered if Merle had done something like pumped him full of drugs, so he wouldn't have to deal with it.

"You ready?" He asked again, softer this time. She didn't answer him though, just stared with large blank eyes. It scared him a tiny bit, it was hard to tell that this was the woman who had smiled so brightly at him just days before. He sighed before grabbing her hand and heaved her up off the bed. "It's time to go girly, we're gonna make a run for my bike. Go straight there and don't look back, I'll be covering behind you." He explained as easy as he could. He didn't really want to directly say that they didn't have time to go get her family or make sure they're ok, but he hoped she understood that. If they were going to survive this then she was going to have to listen and trust him.

She squeezed his hand before letting it go, but didn't use any words to confirm that she understood. He had really wanted words as an answer, but wasn't about to complain, especially since there was still was a walker (or even a crowd of them) trying to beat down the door. He gave her one more nod, before opening up the door and shooting the 3 geeks that were trying to get in. He quickly yanked the arrows free and shoved Beth in front of him and pointed her towards his bike. He had promised that he would protect her, and that's exactly what he was going to do.

She was fast, Daryl was able to note as they ran for it. Daryl shot everything that got to close and tried to keep his arrows with him, but by the time they were at the bike; he had had to leave 3 behind in order to keep them moving along. At this rate he was going to need to find new arrows soon, and they would probably be hard to find. They weren't exactly easy to find before the world ended, he used to have to order them in from some store and then have to wait for weeks upon weeks. He had learned to make more for himself while waiting, but homemade arrows really only lasted through two or three fires. Also, they took a good two hours per hour, which means they were never worth it to him.

Of course, given the chance now to sit down for a large period of time and just whittle out a usable arrow. Perhaps after all this was over and they were some place safer. Some place higher up, the walkers could climb from what he saw so far. He jumped on his bike and waited for Beth to join him on it. He turned around to see her just staring at him blankly once again, like those things weren't directly on their trail. "Come on girlie, get on the damn bike already! I promised your sister I'd get you to safety." Daryl exclaimed as he reached out his hand towards her in a desperate manor. He wasn't about to leave without her, but they certainly didn't have any more time to wait.

Beth's face seemed to light up a little bit at the mention of her sister, like she was relived to here that Maggie hadn't just upped and left her in the middle of this battle field. Then again, maybe she was; Beth hadn't known really anything about they're interaction other then he had been there when she woke up and her very worried sister had been replaced by a snoring guy who she had never even spoke to before. With her sister nowhere in sight after she had spent yesterday not letting her out of her sight, Beth would have thought that Maggie just cut her losses.

Beth took his hand and slid behind him on the bike, she grasped at the back of his vest lightly and as he started the bike up; he growled at her. "Get close and hold on girl; the wind'll knock ya off if ya stay like that." The last thing he needed was her bouncing off the bike and dying due to him being uncomfortable. All this work would be for absolutely nothing.

Of course as she slide her forward so that he could fell her legs practically wrapped around his, her chest noticeably pressed up against his back and her arms wrapped tightly across his middle. Way too far down for his liking as well. Great, she'd obviously never been on a motorcycle before. He revved the bike and her arms only tightened, and he tried not to notice that they were an inch for his crotch as they sped away. They didn't have the time right now to worry about shit like that; they need to get away to safety. Besides, it's not like he was totally hating it anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Ever have a presentation that just bores you to tears? I'm not even sure I was able to retain any of the information, which isn't good because I'm pretty good at listening. Sometimes listening to a recording cut in and out just isn't the same as having a teacher in the room and being able to ask questions. These *** means time skip. Chapters on Tuesday and Thursday this week! Feel free to leave me a review if you have some free time, I'll love you forever!**

**Disclaimer: Walking Dead, I want you so bad, but you're not mine.**

Daryl wasn't really sure how long they had been driving; all he knew was it had been dark when they left the farm and it was light out now. Had been light for while, and they were starting to run low on gas. Like really low, as in they needed to stop in the next ten minutes or they were gonna be empty kind of low. They needed supplies to; they only had what had been in the bikes compartment. A few bottles of pain killers, a change of clothes for Daryl, an extra handgun that had 4 bullets, a thermos that was empty and an old poncho that he wasn't even sure where it had come from. No food, no water, nothing to survive on.

He was forced to pull over when they came to what was once a crummy motel with only one floor. They hadn't seen another building for the last half hour and they weren't likely to see another before they ran out of gas. There weren't any cars, so they couldn't siphon gas, but there appeared to be a tool shed and he was willing to bet there would be something that ran on gas in there and hopefully more gas for it. Otherwise, they wouldn't make it to the next house or car even.

Beth got off the bike, and stuck close to him as they opened the motel door. The door set a chime off, but there still didn't appear to be any movement within the house. The door hadn't been locked, there hadn't been any cars around and there were no sort of barricades put in place; this place appeared as though it had been completely abandoned and forgotten about. This place was in the middle of nowhere and would be a good place to stay for a few days; and at the very least there were probably blankets they could huddle under. Last night had been cold, but Beth hadn't complained at all; he knew she had frozen all night though, and could feel the way she had shivered against his back.

He ripped the bell off the door so that no more noise would be made if they had to leave in a hurry. They wondered over to the small front desk next, there wasn't anything around it besides a folder of papers, a porn magazine and the rack of room keys. There appeared to be 8 rooms and all the key were there for them. Daryl nodded to Beth and she grabbed one of each of the room keys; one of them might have a good amount of supplies in them, though that was unlikely.

They opened the first room with Daryl at ready to shot everything that moved, but it was empty. The other rooms where the same way, the only things that they had found was each bed had a thin blanket on it and each bathroom had an unopened complimentary hand soap and shampoo bottle. The water appeared to work as well, though it wasn't surprising that this hotel needed to have its own well considering just how far away from civilization it was.

They ended up taking everything and stockpiling everything into the first room; it had appeared to be one of the cleanest anyway. There was still the shed that he wanted to check, but his eyes where heavy and he realized that they had both been up for nearly a full day now. Not good if they had to run again, wouldn't be nearly as fast or right in the head. He made the choice quickly to go hunting first thing tomorrow morning and then come back fast when he had gotten them both something to eat. Then they would check the shed, it probably had a lighter or something they could make a fire with in it. They both needed rest right now anyway, and this was a good place to stop for awhile, as long as they don't start seeing large groups of walkers he could protect Beth and they had running water here.

"Are we going to be staying here?" Daryl turned quickly, that had been the first time he had heard Beth speak. He couldn't help but think that her voice sounded southern sweet and laced with honey. Then he realized that he was just stupidly staring at her and thinking somewhat inappropriately about a teenage girl; great he was turning in his perverted brother. "As long as it seems safe, this place has blankets and running water, not gonna find a much better place these days." He answered.

She nodded to him once more and looked towards the bathroom, "Can I have a shower?" She asked quietly. Daryl just nodded his head, and for the first time he realized from this point on she was going to very much rely on him to be in charge. He had never been a leader in his life, and he was probably going to miss it up, but he vowed to himself that no matter what; Beth will stay safe. "Do whatever ya want, I'll go hunting tomorrow to get us something to eat and then we will get through that shed out front." He didn't add how badly they needed there to be gas in there; he didn't want to worry her.

Not that Beth probably didn't realize that on her own, they had driven for a very long time and he was glad he had taken the time to fill his bike up when they were back on the farm. That full tank of gas had probably saved both of their lives.

Daryl flopped down onto the bed as he heard the shower run, and he tried not to think about Beth being naked in the next room. About her nipples being hard do to the cold water, about how she was probably a natural blond. He groaned a bit; they were already going to have to share a bed because it was safer that way, he didn't need to explain his hard-on to the girl in an awkward manner as well. Maybe if he woke up before her, he could go to the front desk and use that porno magazine to jerk off to; then maybe his god damn mind would return to normal, instead of being this perverted mess.

Daryl had woken up very warm, with blankets wrapped around him that he didn't remember going to sleep with and a heavy weight on his side. Looking down with squinted eyes, he quickly realized that Beth in the night had migrated so she was now lying practically on top of him. Not that he remembered her joining him; he had fallen to sleep while she was still in the shower. He could only hope that he hadn't still been hard when she had come back into the room.

He was hard now, but he was trying to ignore it. He wasn't even sure how old this girl was, and more importantly he was in charge of keeping this girl safe. That didn't include feeling her up, letting her feel him up, making her feel uncomfortable, (or even worse) make her feel like she had to do something for him. He was the worst, taking advantage of this girl who was trusting him.

He sat up and rolled her to the side carefully, not wanting to wake her up with sudden movement. He missed the heat of her body immediately, but got up anyway. It was still dark out, but it looked like dawn wasn't that far off. A cold shower was a good idea before he went off for his hunt; he hadn't had one since the day after he had been shot. Hershel had suggested that it would be a good idea to get clean so he didn't contaminate his wound with himself. He didn't want to admit how long he had gone without a shower before that, how used to going weeks without a shower he was.

Beth wouldn't want to hang around him if he smelled as bad as walkers did; hell _he _didn't want to be around him when he smelled that bad. Besides, he couldn't go out until sun so it wasn't like he was wasting precious time. The cold water stung his skin, but he chose to ignore that feeling in favor of running one of those small soap up and down his body. Whatever it took to make Beth happy, whatever it took to keep her safe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Ever get a test back that you were sure you did terrible on and see 85%? It's the most wonderful feeling in the world. Like the weight of the world has just been lifted off your shoulders and you can fly. Cheers to being in a great mood. And there were two chapters this week, I'm working over time! On another note, I always wonder is you can tell just where I go back and edit in more things before I post it? Feel free to leave me a review, I'll love you eternally.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just the story itself.**

Daryl swung an ax at a tree; they needed some wood to burn to keep warm in the night. It was about middle October now, getting colder and even threatening to snow. They had been at the motel for over a month now and were beginning to set up a decent base there. They had broken into the shed and found a good amount of things that they needed, and Daryl was still going hunting every few days to bring them back food.

That was the only source of food they had, but they didn't want to move on because of the fact they might not find a better place to stay for the winter. The water was good and they could shower here, they could sleep on a bed and that right there was too good to give up without great purpose. They had found a small amount of gasoline in the shed too, and siphoned what was left out of the small lawnmower. The gas wouldn't really get them far, but at least it gave them the option of taking the bike if they needed to leave in a hurry.

They needed to do a run for supplies before winter happened to; Beth didn't have any other clothes but the ones she had been wearing since they got here and they're just worn through now. His weren't really much better, and he needed some sort of warm jacket if he was going to be able to continue to hunt into the winter. Beth should have one to, in case they needed to run. She had been wearing the poncho that had been stuck in the bike compartment, though it wasn't the warmest thing in the world.

He carried an armful of wood inside with him, and was greeted with Beth trying to make a soup out of water and meat; they didn't have anything else to put in it, but he wasn't about to complain, at least he didn't have to do the cooking. He absolutely hated cooking. "Hey girlie, got us some more wood." He said as he dropped the arm load in the small pile next to their door. They would need more soon, but it was cold out and hard to stay outside for enough time to chop a lot of wood.

"I was thinking maybe we should consider going on a run, we're going to need more supplies then what we have during winter." Daryl was surprised that Beth had said that, it was like she was reading his mind. He nodded his head before sitting down next to wear Beth was attempting to cook. For some reason or another, over the weeks he realized that he liked to watch Beth cook; even if they really didn't have any amount of food to make. It reminded him of being a little kid and watching as his mother prepared food, he could even say it was calming.

For some reason or another, he had begun to compare Beth to his own mother a lot; well, to all those times when she wasn't high at least. Before she had died, his mother had always taken special care with Daryl, bandaging up cuts, kissing bruises, not letting the old man hit him, singing calming songs to him at night and always making sure he didn't go hungry. He'd just turned 10 when she died, and his life went downhill from there. Beth gave him comfort that someone could still care about him, that someone could still be innocent even though they're living in a hell.

"We should head out tomorrow morning." Beth spoke as though she was walking on egg-shells. He knew it was so he didn't get mad at her saying she wished to go; this situation had only came up one other time in their time together. When Beth had said that he should get the bed, saying that he did more work and deserved it more. Daryl had lost his temper; growling at her that he didn't need her pity and she should just take whatever pampering she could, because he wasn't actually that nice most of the time. She had counter saying that what if they ended up dying because his back became really bad and he could protect them.

That had been the only argument they had so far and Beth had won. He had heard that women always arguments, but damn he'd thought that was only in relationships. Not that he cared or anything about losing, because in the end he knew she had a point, but he still didn't want to treat the girl badly. She had blushed when he had said that, and they had ended up giving a compromise that they could share the beds like responsible adults, like they had the first night they were here. They had been sleeping together ever since, and Daryl woke up curled around Beth most days.

Before the whole walking dead thing, he had never woke up to someone before. He understood why so many people liked it though, why people got married and lived together. It was nice to wake up and feel another's body and heat pressed up against him as he woke up; it said that she was still safe and he didn't have to wake in a hurry to check if she was still breathing.

"Yeah, be best to get out at first morning light; more chance of making it back before dark. We'll need to find more gas in a hurry though, don't got much left." He answered finally as Beth gave him a bowl of the make shift soup. It tasted good, even though there really wasn't anything in it; the thought came to his mind that his mother used to say that everything tasted better when it was made with love. He just pushed that thought away; there was no reason for it to be here anyway. It was scary to him that he could see just how his mother had been in Beth's eyes, especially since she had lived her life in an abusive relationship with his father. Beth wasn't in any kind of relationship that he knew of, so there was no reason why a comparison that could be made.

In his head, he knew it was because his mother had been the last woman in his life who he had really cared for and had cared for him. Might have been the last person in general, and now that the two of them were alone out here, Beth was caring for him as much as he was protecting her. He'd even go as far to say that their relationship was much like if he'd married her and they had gotten a house together. She cooked, cleaned, told him when he needed to bathe, gave him a list a jobs that needed done and in return he kept her safe, fed and as happy as he could manage. This dead world did weird things to people and it gave him the ability to get used to having an old woman, JC worked in mysterious ways. He'd never been happier.

After dinner, he took their dishes and set them down on the floor out of the way. Beth looked a bit confused at him; she usually washed them right after dinner and had already run a sink of water for them before they had even started eating. Daryl just sat down beside her again and bit down on his thumb nail, trying to pick the right words. Eventually he gave up and found himself just gazing into her eyes, "I never imaged having a girl in my life." He wanted to slap himself for saying that, it made him sound virginal and antisocial. _He was only one of those things, in his mind anyway. _Still, Beth smiled at him and even giggled a little bit before answering, "That's too bad, back in the day you would have been a real catch. You would have been exactly the kind of guy I had wanted to be with, strong and able to run the farm after my daddy retired."

Daryl's heart pounded, he was just the kind of guy she had been looking for. He hadn't heard that from anyone in his life ever, that he was just what they wanted. "I'm at least 10 years older then you." He mumbled and Beth gave him another wide grin. "Momma was 16 when she married dad and he was 33 and had already had Maggie and been married before." Well, he certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Daryl found himself leaning closer to her and whispering, "I'd really like to kiss you." Beth leaned forward to meet him, not even bothering to answer the question before their lips met. Their hands ran up, exploring each other's bodies. Tomorrow they could both die, but tonight they had each other. Shirts came off without any real hurry and Daryl found himself groping at Beth's chest. It was okay though, because she was definitely feeling her way around with her hand stuck down his pants. He briefly wondered if she had done this before and if she had with who?

The night was slow, loving even. They kissed as she stroked her to completion and afterward, he slide himself down and licked, sucked and tongued her to her own completion. As their eyes started to droop, they both had smiles on their faces.

That night, Daryl watched as Beth fell asleep and curled his body up around her once she did. Tomorrow, she would be going out into the most dangerous world and tonight she was safe with him, in this room, away from harm. He would keep her safe.

No one bothered to do the dishes at all that night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Written on another Monday morning, I really hate getting up early on Monday's. It just makes 6 a.m. seem like the most miserable thing in the world. Every have your hair freeze while walking to school? I didn't even think it much that cold out, but apparently it was. Story's gonna wrap up in the next few chapters I think! Thank you to all the amazing people who have taken the time to review for me, you make it so much easier to write chapter after chapter of this. Review for me and I'll love you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the story itself. Just shattered dreams.**

When Daryl woke up, he realized that there wasn't that familiar weight against him and sat up, grabbing at his bow in a hurry. Beth wasn't in the room with him, wasn't in his line of sight. Anything could be happening to her right now and he wouldn't even know, wouldn't be able to protect her because he wasn't near her. His heart pounded as he examined the outside from a slit in the boarded up window of the room, it was still dark out. Why would she leave when it was still dark out, she should be in bed! _She should be in bed with him._

The thought ran through his mind that she had left because she hadn't really been all that into last night as he had thought she was and as soon as he was asleep had run as far as she could away. God, he prayed to god that he hadn't imaged her leaning in when he had asked to kiss her, that she had kissed him back. What if she felt that he would hurt her if she resisted? Daryl never felt closer to tears at that moment.

Then he noticed the door to the washroom was slightly open and the shower water was running. There weren't any lights that worked, so she must have just left the door open a bit so it wasn't exactly pitch black. Though his heart wouldn't stop pounding and he knew that he had to make sure that she was okay. And he couldn't just call out her name like a pussy, and just have to believe that she was telling the truth, that she was okay. It was just as possible that she was in there trying to be quiet because she was crying her heart out about what had happened, which she could have done because she felt like he'd make her leave if she didn't. It wasn't as if he could see her in the darkness like that, anything could be happening in there.

And then the water turned off and out walked Beth in a skimpy towel. He couldn't have turned redder if he had tried; Beth was standing feet from him with no clothes on at all. Just a towel and a little bit of darkness sitting in between him and see Beth naked. It wasn't as if they hadn't gotten naked together last night or that he wasn't still naked and covered up by a blanket. It was still kind of embarrassing though, last night they had been busy and now he was just sitting there and outright staring at her. He wished he wouldn't have sat up now, or grabbed his bow, because now Beth noticed right away that he was up, and that he was staring at her. She obviously hadn't planned on him waking up, and now they were at a standstill. Or a stare still, because that was really all they were doing; staring at each other with wide open eyes.

It was actually dark enough that they could barely see each other's eyes, but it was still embarrassing for being caught. Daryl was the first to look away, choosing instead to stare at the wall. "What, we aren't going to talk about this?" He heard Beth ask. She hadn't sounded sarcastic at all, just generally curious if they were going to have to have a conversation about this. Personally he would have just loved to be able to say that he had no idea why she wanted to talk about it and they didn't need to at all, but he would be plainly lying. Beth deserved better than being that girl that was lied to all the time. Beth deserved the absolute world.

"I didn't know where you were. You weren't there when I woke up." Daryl found himself explaining, while setting down his weapon once more and hunched other himself in a way that could pass for stretching. There was so much more he could have said at that moment, I was hoping it wasn't a dream, I was hoping that you didn't feel ashamed that you slept with me, I was hoping that we could stay together, especially after all night. At that moment though, he was just trying really hard to not have to look at her again, and to make sure she couldn't see that he was half way hard.

It was already embarrassing enough without her laughing at him. Not that he actually thought that she would laugh; it was just that Merle always said that chicks would laugh if a guy could control his body correctly. From what he had seen so far, Beth wasn't one of those women, she was caring not cold, loving not cruel, happy not dead inside; she was Beth, not some women he had taken home to fuck then just forget about. Then again, Beth had had her hand there last night and seeing him hard again probably wouldn't be weird for her.

She looked at him with wide and soft eyes. She wasn't being cruel just smiling at him sadly; he probably looked pretty pitiful hunched over like that. His voice sounded pretty rough as well, it always did when he first woke up but he usually didn't have to talk this soon. "Look away for a moment again, okay?" Beth spoke quickly and he could only guess that she was putting her clothes back on, probably for the best for it was really cold in the room. Though, he didn't expect her to walk back over and around to him as soon as her clothes were on and climb in the bed and presses up again his back.

She hugged him like that, and he could feel her nipples straining against his back. This was meant to be a comfort thing Daryl realized, but really it didn't help do anything at all, only turned him on further. She was still damp and obviously cold which was why he could feel her nipples. He just tried not to think about it, tried to just confirm that Beth was okay and she was here, instead of Beth was wet, cold and needed to be warmed up. "You don't need to worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you and I promise I won't leave." Beth whispered into his back and Daryl found himself relaxing.

He hadn't even realized that he had been waiting for her to say something like that. Like he had just been waiting for her to say that she wasn't going to leave him this whole time. His mouth went dry, since when did it matter so much to him if she was here. It was a time like this that he wished he had a cigarette to smoke, smoking always managed to clear his cluttered mind. He hadn't had one now in the last month or more, abruptly had to quite at the beginning, couldn't risk having to go get more. What he would give to have a cigarette right now.

They would stay like that, pressed up against each other until the sun finally came up. No more touching or anything sexual was necessary, this was much more than that. This was showing compassion for each other and showing how much they cared. This was Daryl seeing that Beth wasn't running in the opposite direction, this was seeing that last night was real and the feelings they definitely had for one other. This was them starting to consider themselves a family.

They needed to go on that run today for supplies, but right now they needed confirmation that the other was there. They were still safe, still alive and more than that, happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Sorry with this long wait, I didn't get up anything over Christmas break. That's what happens when you do all your writing on a school computer and then go back home for Christmas and not have access to said computer. Such is life I guess, but I still hoped you enjoyed reading the story. Thank you to all those who left me reviews, I love you 3.**

**Disclaimer: I don't even own decorations, why would you think I owned the walking dead?**

They headed out as soon as the sun went up and Beth clung to him on the back of the bike. He got the feeling that maybe he wasn't the only one who was worried about losing the other. Beth obviously was scared about losing him, though he wasn't sure if it was because she cared or because she didn't want to be alone. Either way, she had come a long way since those dark days of her wanting to kill herself. He was proud of her for finding the strength to survive, for making herself his reason to survive. No matter what happened, he had already decided to never forget what had happened between them, and that memory would live on in his head till the day he died.

They travelled for hours, leaving the place they had been staying behind. They needed supplies and would have to keep travelling until they found something. They stopped to put gas in the bike several times, never finding much gas left in any cars on the road. Gas was becoming harder and harder to find, and that was worrying Daryl for the future; what would happen when they needed a quick getaway but couldn't because they didn't have any fuel. Or when they needed supplies and could find anything ever because all they could do was walk to the next location and it was too far away in time to get water, or food or medicine.

Finally, they came to a small town, which had a few cars parked together and some sort of wall half way constructed, made out of anything the people could get their hands on that wasn't a necessity. He then realized that great possibility that people were still here and this wall was slowly being worked on. He stopped the bike completely just inside the wall, and grabbed Beth's hand when she tried to get off. He wasn't sure if it was safe and if Beth got hurt because of him being too trusting with this dead world, he'd never forgive himself. Beth squirmed against him, obviously not thinking about how dangerous this town could be and how bad the people who lived here could be. Beth was such a sweet and innocent soul; she wouldn't believe that anyone had a bad heart. He knew people could have bad heart though, he grow up with people who didn't even _have _hearts.

"I think someone else is here" He said in a quiet voice, as though his voice could give them away when the people would have heard his bike from miles away. Beth new that too apparently, because she shot him a dull look. "If they were evil they would have attacked us the moment we entered their walls." She answered him.

It humored him that Beth could still use words like good and evil to describe people. She had explained it to him once; saying that good were soft souls who would help if they could and evil would strike against the weak. She had wrapped around that moment and called him a good man, and he believed her at that moment. She explained because he saved her and didn't leave her, cared and even protected her; he was both a good man and her hero. He had never been called someone's hero before and the only person to call him a good man had been Carol and that had been right before they lost the farm.

"Let's just be careful, okay?" He tightened his grip for a single second before letting her go completely. At that moment though he wished he hadn't let go at all, because an alarm went off and shutting angry voices could be heard. They both tensed, and had no choice but to wait for whatever it was to come. Not the already dead, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't be hostile. People did stupid and crazy things when scared and back into a corner. Some did stupid things because they were stupid, or thought the opposing people were weaker then themselves. Daryl really didn't want to get into one of those situations right now, what would happen if a group of guys took him down and then had their way with Beth? He never forgive himself, even in death.

Daryl checked the gas gage and gritted his teeth; they were almost on empty and while they could get away, they wouldn't get very far and then wouldn't have a way to get back. God damn, they never should have gone on this run, they should have tried harder to get by on what they had. He knew that that wouldn't have killed them during the winter though; if they hadn't frozen they would have starved.

A man came out of one of the buildings with a gun pointed on them and he knew that there were others as well. Then the man lowered the gun and another woman run out of the building at them, Daryl grabbed and pulled Beth behind him. There was much he could do in this situation, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. Then the woman screeched; "Beth!"

Daryl's heart pounded and he finally realized that he recognized these people. These people were part of their Atlanta group; the people who had been at the farm were still alive. That woman was Beth older sister, the same one who he had promised that he would keep Beth safe to. Beth was in her older sisters arms and they were crying together, falling down onto the ground together. Daryl hadn't even realized that Beth had missed her sister that much.

Rick put his gun away and reached out to Daryl, they had a strong handshake between them. "We've been establishing this place for the winter. I'm glad you guys made it off the farm." Rick explained quickly. Daryl was surprised he was so fast being accepted back into the group, he had almost figured for a second that they would just take Beth and turn him away. Not that he would have let that happen, Beth was his to care for and he wouldn't let people kidnap her from him.

"We held up in an old motel room after the farm, and stayed there up till now." Daryl spoke to Rick as the girls pulled themselves back together. Maggie had begun to pull Beth towards the house, but she shook off her older sister hand and ran back to Daryl. "Maggie says my dad's in there, that it's been tough and they've been moving a lot, but they're aright." She said happily.

Rick's eyes widened along with Maggie's when Beth grabbed onto and held Daryl's hand. In fact, Daryl was a little bit surprised to, but not completely shocked, they had gotten pretty used each other and they had been constantly in contact. It was hard to feel that the other was safe now days unless they were attached to each other. Their fingers intertwined and Beth smiled at him. "We did it; we got back to the group." Beth spoke again, excited this time.

The entire group came outside to see them, or what Daryl guessed was all that was left of the group at least. That didn't seem to matter t Beth though, because she jumped up and placed a kiss on his lips. It wasn't a quick kiss either, it was one you would give the person who meant everything in the world to you and to Daryl, and Beth did. Beth arms went up to wrap round his neck and his went down to cling around the small of her back. They stayed like that until Rick cleared his throat and Daryl remembered that they were in front of all the people. "What was that for?" Daryl asked biting his lip harshly, still in a soft tone.

"Even if we are back at the group, I can't stop now. I'm not going to let you go now, or even out of my site." Beth said with a grin. Daryl smiled back; it was weird how this girl always managed to take the words right out of his mouth. _Can't stop now._ He took her hand and they walked towards the building the group had been staying in and they only stared. Even Maggie, who had been standing feet from them, just gawked as they walked by. Daryl found himself smiling, they would all just have to get used to it, because this wasn't going to stop, both was _his girl _now.


End file.
